I accepted magic to fight evil and it turned me into a girl, but I don’t think I really mind?

Jennifer Shannon

Chapter 8

When I had originally learned that the word “demisexual” applied to me, I had just been happy to find out that I wasn’t weird, and hadn’t done any further research. But, since I learned the bar was a 2SLGBTQIA+ space, I had looked up the acronym, and I found out I was included under the A for “asexual”. This had made me feel even more like I should help out here after having caused some of the damage fighting the bocánach. So, for a few days, I had been doing whatever I could here, as they got ready to reopen tonight. I still wasn’t that comfortable with people I didn’t know, and Daniel only came that one day, so I mostly stuck around Lanelle, whom I had at least met before, and who was clearly trying to make me feel welcome here. I hadn’t figured out what she had been talking about that first day I came to help here, and she hadn’t brought it up again, but we had become friends, rather than just acquaintances.

Since I had put so much work into it now, I had decided to attend the grand reopening of the bar with Lanelle and Amy. Feeling safe here, and with them, with uncharacteristic boldness, I had come out as demisexual, and we were talking about the homophobic abuse I had suffered in high school back home.

“Yeah, the boys used to beat me up, too. Though in my case, it was for being too girly rather than not being interested in the girls,” Lanelle told me.

“Why would they beat up a girl for being girly?” I asked.

“Well, I was still living as a boy back then. Of course, I expect they’d have been just as bad, if not worse, had I been out as trans.”

“Wait, you’re transgender?!”

I was shocked. I had always assumed it would be more obvious if I met a transgender person. I looked her over, and I still couldn’t see anything unusual.

“See, I keep telling you it’s not that bad, honey,” Amy told her girlfriend.

“I think Matt might just be a bit oblivious,” Lanelle teased me.

“Hey! I just have… other things on my mind,” I argued.

“Like what?”

“Like…”

Just then there was a scream from outside, so we were among many who ran to see what was going on. Once we were outside, we saw someone running from another bocánach.

“Oh, shit. We have to get you away from here,” I said.

“Us?! What about you?” Amy asked, as I pushed them on.

“I guess you’ll have to find out,” I said.

I hurried them on to the alley in which I had transformed before, and Bran landed to meet us.

“Do you just fly around watching me?” I asked Bran.

“No. Usually, I am searching for attacks of which to warn you. We might not always be so fortunate as to have you or your friends on site,” Bran answered, understandably shocking the girls.

“I guess that makes sense. Why are they attacking here again?” I asked as I focussed on my bracelet and started my incantation quietly.

“I suspect it is because of the large number of people here tonight, and Wirognawos’s prejudices.”

“So, he’s a homophobe?” I asked after finishing my transformation.

It seemed my light show had stunned the girls even more. I noticed this time that my hair was tied back, which was strange, since my hair hadn’t been quite as long before. I guessed I must be going to change a bit with each transformation in addition to slowly changing over time.

“He has also historically shown prejudice toward women and those of other ethnicities.”

“Of course he has.”

“Oh my God! It was you!” Amy shouted, snapping out of her shock.

“Uh, yeah. I wasn’t planning to tell anyone else, but here we are. Bran, can you tell them everything while I go fight?”

I left as Bran started to explain things, since I was planning to put a quick end to this. After weaving through the fleeing crowd, I quickly snuck up behind the bocánach, and stabbed forward with my spear. But it turned out I wasn’t as sneaky as I’d hoped. The creature spun around, grabbed me by the spear, and flung me into the street. I quickly dodged traffic, and returned to the fight. This time I feinted to stab again, but instead I had the blade pass by the monster, and I struck it on the horn on the side of its head with the butt of my weapon. While it was dazed, I swept its hoofed feet out from under it, and stabbed it through the chest.

I took the time to reflect on my victory. The magic seemed to come with some fighting skills, but I thought I really should take some martial arts classes. But as I stood there, I suddenly felt someone grab me by my ponytail. It seemed my hair was long enough now, that I could still turn my head without freeing my hair, and I saw an arm extending from mist that had suddenly materialized behind me. As the mist dissipated, I found the arm belonged to an ancient white man in robes wearing a lot of bronze jewellery.

“I am come to see with mine own eyes the new curadh who hath slain my soldiers, and I find naught but a young maiden,” he spoke with a gruesome leer.

A maiden? This had to be Wirognawos, and he would know the ancient clothes were unisex. If the clothes weren’t confusing him, and he was seeing me clearly, how could he think I was a girl? I knew I was getting more delicate, but…

“I can still kick your bony old ass, just like I did to your minions,” I taunted.

“Bah! I have naught to fear from thee, child. My ‘minions’, however, must need further training if they may be felled by a maid such as thou.”

He released me, and disappeared back in to mist before I could react. Having nowhere to direct my confused feelings, I just ran back to the alley where the others were waiting, and crumpled to the ground there, powering down. I saw Daniel had joined the others during my fight.

“Daniel?” I asked.

“Yeah, Matt. Amy called me, and I wasn’t far.”

“Do I look like a girl?”